Wednesday, May 31, 2006

The Other Foot

I read this in today's Tribune:
"The city is wondering aloud, why should Sandy residents be asked to pay additional property taxes for schools nowhere near their community."
That question can be directed to Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan and House Speaker Greg Curtis.
After all, if House Speaker Curtis can force others to pay for Mayor Tom Dolan's stadium...

8 Comments:

Does Sandy forget the days when other's property taxes were paying for Sandy schools "nowhere near their home", when Sandy was in a growth phase? Oh, how quickly we take from others and how short our memories.

This is probably more of a (wannabe) Charley Foster type of thought, but it seems that the rush to redistrict may result in severe inequities between school districts, severe enough to warrant a constitutional challenge ala the Supreme Court "busing" ruling in the 1960's.

I think we should get away from individual property tax assessments for each school district. If those in a particular geographical area want to oversee things like curriculum, then fine. But school assessments should be distributed evenly to all pupils of the state. Those students who live in Magna should get the same level of funding as those who live in Sandy.

Oh Utah, here we go again. For such a conservative state who allegedly 'abhors' big government, we are somtimes quick (maybe too quick) to create more of it. More school districts means more government (read: more taxes to fund what the larger shcool districts already doing on a grand scale). It is the same trend with creating cities, townships and cooperatives in the Salt Lake Valley. I am not blind to the concept of self governance, I just think there is more than just irony in creating more levels of government. I think it may be a lack of understanding.

I agree with Shawn. They should get the same level of funding, but they don't. The Educational Foundations (that deal with gifts to the schools) is on a district basis. That's how we end up with stuff like: people donate for a new track at West High, but it gets built at East High instead because you can't earmark unless this district goes along with it. So in the end, those with the biggest noise (most political clout) get more. Witness the need to close schools in Granite District, but they are going to rebuild the one that was fortuitously destroyed by fire. Because it's a smart educational move? so the children in that neighborhood will be better served? so the students in the rest of the district will be better served? No, because Wasatch Junior High is by Olympus Cove and those people raised a ruckus.